ESC HF 25: VELOCITY: Vericiguat 5mg in Pts with Heart Failure

ESC HF 25 - VELOCITY shows bypassing an initiation dose of 2.5mg, and and beginning with 5mg vericiguat safe and tolerable in 9/10 patients with heart failure with ejection fraction less than 45%. Prof Stephen Greene (Duke Clinical Research Institute, US) discusses the findings from VELOCITY (NCT06195930; Bayer), a phase 2b open-label clinical study evaluating the tolerability and safety of an initiation dose of 5mg of vericiguat in participants with chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. 106 participants were enrolled in the study, who received one 5mg dose of vericiguat daily for at least 14 days, and up to 18 days. Findings showed that in patients with chronic HF with EF less than 45% who were well treated with background guideline-directed medical therapy, less than 9 out of 10 patients safely tolerated initation of vericiguat at a starting dose of 5mg daily. Interview Questions: 1. What is the rationale behind starting patients directly at 5mg vericiguat rather than the typical titration approach? 2. What is the patient population and study design? 3. What are the key findings? Have you identified any patient characteristics that predict better or worse tolerance of the 5 mg starting dose? 4. What potential healthcare benefits might result from eliminating the titration period? 5. What follow-up studies would be needed, and what are the next steps? Recorded on-site at ESC HF in Belgrade, 2025. Editors: Yazmin Sadik, Jordan Rance Videographers: Tom Green and Mike Knight Support: This is an independent interview produced by Radcliffe Cardiology. Visit Radcliffe Cardiology: https://www.radcliffecardiology.com/ This content is intended for healthcare professionals only. Radcliffe brings medical knowledge, insight and innovation to life for CV clinicians around the world, using our communications & creative expertise, our platforms and connections across the community to help transform theory into practice faster. Like us on Facebook:   / radcliffecardiology   Follow us on X: https://x.com/radcliffeCARDIO